7 smart and sassy crime fiction writers dish on writing and life.
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Saturday, May 3, 2008

Now you are a....fountain pen!

I'm going to a different kind of party today. (Yes my life is a steady stream of parties but I was also up until 1am tweaking my manuscript which is due on Friday..)

I'm going to a Bar Mitzvah. Somehow, even though I grew up in Brooklyn New York, I've never been to a Bar Mitzvah (or a Bat Mitzvah, which is, I believe a similar ceremony for girls.)

Communions and confirmations, yes. But basically, if you were Italian and grew up in Brooklyn, they involved patent leather shoes, a new dress and lots of food. I don't remember there being any transformation.

Two people I mentioned it to, said the same thing to me...Now you are a fountain pen! Apparently at the end of the ceremony the rabbi (or whoever) says now you are a man, and for many years the standard gift was a fountain pen. The hot gift today is probably an Ipod, but Now you are an Ipod just doesn't have the same ring to it.

I do hope my young friend (who is a wonderful kid..very cute, smart and a little mischievous) gets a fountain pen from someone. I will turn him on to The Fountain Pen Hospital on Warren Street in Manhattan.

I'd heard about the FPH some years ago, but never ventured that far downtown until The Mysterious Bookshop moved there. I'm a pen junky. If my next book contract is a nice fat one

My brother used to be a big fountain pen fan, and as I tried emulate him, I got one, too. Man, did I make a mess with that thing!! Paper, hands purse....You have to be a certain kind of person (neat, careful, etc.) to pull it off!